Near to You
by hiptserluv2309
Summary: AU set in present day Philadelphia. Katniss Everdeen is just your average highschooler who spends most of her time with her best friend, Johanna just trying to get by with school on her plate. When Peeta Mellark moves in down the hall, how will he affect her? (I know, crappy summary, but it's a re-write for my previous story, "Spike It")


The sun pouring in through my window is what wakes me up from my deep slumber. Not another three seconds later, my alarm clock decides to blare obnoxiously.

"Ugh! I hate life" I groan looking at the clock that shines in bright numbers 5:00 A.M.

I grudgingly drag my ass out of bed to go take a shower, something that I take half an hour doing due to the fact I get lost in my thoughts. If not that, I sing. Although I risk waking the whole house up with my loud, off key voice. After staying in the shower for a good thirty minutes, I jump out, towel dry, and change into some clothes.

I decide I want to be casual that day but still look like I tried. If I came home in an outfit that I would normally choose, I'd get my head bitten off by Prim. Apparently she's the fashionista of the house and expects me to dress nice everyday. That's a lot to expect out of me, Katniss Everdeen. So I end up putting on my favorite black ripped skinny jeans, a thin maroon belt, my Van Halen muscle tee, a plaid button-up over it, my combat boots a spiked bracelet, spiked necklace, and a black slouchy beanie over my side-braided hair. If Prim wants me to dress nice, I'm going to do it on my terms. I apply a small amount of makeup to bring out my features and get rid of any flaws, less is more as I like to say. So I apply concealer of my horrid dark circles, dust some translucent powder over my face, some mascara, and my eyebrows definitely needed some tlc.

I finally go to grab some breakfast which consists of oatmeal loaded with butter and brown sugar, and greek yogurt, I decide on peach that day for my yogurt. Once it's all prepared, I sit down on the couch to eat and enjoy an episode of Spongebob, I shall' never be too old.

I look out the glass sliding door down to the park, there's not too many people out this time of the morning. I live in Rittenhouse Square. A small neighborhood that surrounds a park, in the big city of Philadelphia. My family and I moved here a year after my father died when serving in the army, I was eleven, Prim being only seven. My mom was utterly devastated, taking her a year to get her act together, saying that 'the house brought back too many memories'. She received a job offer at the hospital farther down town. I didn't know what to think, I was leaving the small town of Highlands, North Carolina where I had grown up. I miss the fresh air and the beautiful view of the mountains in the distance. How I could hear the birds chirping in the morning on spring days, and how the flowers would bloom in vibrant colors. And most of all, going on hikes with my father where I was taught to hunt with a bow and arrow. Also where I first discovered a dandelion, he told me to blow it out and make a wish, promising me that it would come true. I believed it then, now that I'm older, I know how the world works, unfortunately. My bow and arrows have remained in my closet, the last time I used them was on a trip with my friend Gale to the woods. I wonder about him all the time. I look at the clock to discover that I'll be late if I don't get my ass in gear. I grab my bags and lock the door behind me. I see the elevator door open already and I definitely don't have time to wait for it to come back up.

"Hold the door!" I yell God they heard me because a hand reached out to stop the door from closing.  
I jump in to discover a new face, yet they still seem familiar.

"New here?" Asking curiously.

"Yeah, just moved in down the hall."

He 's definitely cute, with a head of shaggy blonde hair and bright blue eyes. I think I've seen him around before, Pete, Peter-

"I'm Peeta by the way"Well, I was close.

"I'm Katniss, I'm pretty sure I've seen you around school"

"Yeah, we actually have Home Ec together"

Oh, I feel stupid now.

"Oh yeah, I think I'm failing in that class I suck at cooking" I joke and he cracks a smile and I swear I turn to jelly.

Dammit, get your act together Katniss. They elevator dings and comes to a stop. As soon as we step outside the bus pulls up. Just on time. I step on and sit with my friend Johanna who I call Jo.

"Hey, what's Peeta doing on the bus?" Jo asks

"He's just moved in. I totally forgot he's in our Home Ec class. I feel stupid now."

"You're so brainless sometimes, you had one of his cheese buns just the other day"

"Oh yeah... Well they were good"

"God you're stupid"

"Thanks a lot. I appreciate it Jo"

"Anytime, Doll face" she winks at me and I roll my eyes.

I decide to just listen to my ipod the rest of the and I walk to our lockers together, ours being next to each other was actually how we met. First class is chemistry, I think we get to explode eggs today, Jo outta like that. And so we did explode eggs helping the hour and thirty minute class to go by faster. Next is Home Ec where Peeta will be. I walk in and see Peeta and a couple other students helping our teacher, Ms. Trinket, set up all of the supplies we'll need to make today's dish. I see 'chicken noodle soup' written on the white board in big letters, pretty self-explanatory. I sit down with my partner, Glimmer who is your average bottle-head blonde, a portion of the reason why I have a low grade in here. She always runs off to go flirt with Cato, the quarterback for our football team. Once everyone's in the classroom Ms Trinket speaks up.

"Good morning everyone! Today we are going to make a simple dish, chicken noodle soup!" she announces ecstatically.

The class isn't entertained so she just tells us to get started. And there goes Glimmer. I begin with adding the broth to the pot and turning it on low. Now, lets chop this celery without losing a finger. I magically accomplished it and begin to chop the chicken up. That's when I see Peeta out of the corner of my eye.

"I see you've lost your partner, mine's absent so I thought I'd work with you. How's that sound?" he asks.

"I could use all the help I can get" I answer. He chops up the chicken for me and I begin to add the celery to the broth and turn up the heat. Peeta then adds the chicken, and the carrots he chopped up. With his help, the task was so much easier, all we have to do now is wait it the timer dings I grab two bowls, spoons, and Peeta gets the ladle. We taste it for the first time and surprisingly, we did it justice. Well, I did have Peeta's help, without him it would've just tasted like water.

"See, you're not half bad" Peeta speaks up.

"Only because you helped me, it would've tasted like crap on my own."

"I doubt it, chicken noodle soup is fool-proof."

Ms. Trinket announces it's time to clean up so we finish our soup and wash the pot and other dishes we used. On our way out I hear my name being called.

"Katniss!"

I turn around to find Peeta trying to catch up with me.

"What's up?" I ask.

"I wanted to know if you'd like to hang out sometime. Just as friends."

"Sure, I guess I can, when?"

"How about tomorrow night, just to grab some pizzas somewhere?"

"Sounds great."

We say a goodbyes and go our separate ways. Jo catches up with me at our next class, AP World History.

"So, I overheard your little chat with Blondie. Sounds like you've got a date" Jo jokes.

"Oh, shut up, it's not a date we're just friends" I argue.

"Whatever you say, Brainless" She smiles and turns to her work.

The rest of the day goes by normally, boring. I am relieved the day is over, I hate Mondays. Jo and I grab our stuff and head to the bus as we randomly argue over whose hotter, Ryan Gosling or Garrett Hedlund.

"Ryan is so sexy!" Jo insists.

"He may be hot but Garrett's got a nice ass" I argue.

"Touché."

The bus is, for some reason, extremely packed that day. We find an empty seat, but I have a feeling we're going to have to three-seat it. Peeta is the last person on the bus and he has nowhere to go.

"Yo! Peeta, come sit with us!" Jo yells out.

"Dammit Jo! Really?"

"Come on, the poor kid needs a place to sit."

I just shut up and scootch over for him to sit down.

"Hey, sorry I gotta squash you guys" Peeta says as he sits down.

"Oh it's no problem at all!" Jo say.

She flashes me one of her devious smiles and I just glare. We all just end up sitting in an awkward silence. I notice all of the girls gawking at him. For Christ's sake, they're like freaking animals. I hear snickering beside me.

"What's so damn funny?!" I ask Jo with impatience.

"You. You are so jealous!"

"Am not!"

I look over to see Peeta talking to one of the she-devils. He's smiling and politely talking, but I can tell he's uncomfortable. Her on the other hand has her hands all over his arms and leg. I'm hating this, I take out my ipod and block out all the surrounding noise. We finally make it to our stop so I say goodbye to Jo and me and Peeta get off the bus. As soon as we step onto the elevator, he opens his mouth.

"Did you see that girl? I felt bad, she was hanging all over me, I was trying to be polite."

"Yeah, haha, I felt bad for _you_, she must not know personal space."

"Or that I have my eyes on another girl" he says with a smile.

I swear I can see a glint in his eyes, he's definitely hiding something.

"Lucky girl, I guess you could say" thankfully we get to our floor.

"Well, I guess I'll see you tomorrow" he says with a smile.

I swear this boy smiles too much, someday his face is going to rip in half.

"Yeah, see you later" I smile back.

And so we go our separate ways. I walk into our apartment and I'm instantly greeted by an ecstatic Prim.

"Katniss! You know that pre-algebra quiz I was so worried about? I got a 100% on it!" She squeals exited.

"Good job little duck! I'm so proud of you" I say smiling.

She prances off smiling. I decide to grab a snack and do my homework, it's only 3:00 so I still have about two and a half hours before mom arrives from her shift. Homework is going to be the death of me and I'm just now half-way through. A few more algebra questions and then a worksheet for world history and I'll be done. Mom comes home around 5:50 and gets started on dinner it will take a while so me and Prim watch some TV to kill time. I decide to go check on soon as I step into the kitchen, the delicious aroma of my favorite dish violates my senses, lamb stew.

"Hey mom, dinner looks so good. When is it going to be ready?" I ask.

"Hey sweetie, probably about five more minutes. How was school?"

"Normal as ever, bo-ring. My friend Peeta Mellark moved in down the hall though"

"The Mellarks?"

"Yeah, do you know them somehow?"

"Yes, they have a bakery down near the hospital, I sometimes stop by on my breaks to grab a snack. Everything they make is absolutely delicious. Mr. Mellark is just too kind" my mother says.

"I might stop by there sometime, Peeta and I are going to grab some pizza for dinner tomorrow after school, is that okay?"

"Of course, I won't stop you from going on a date" she says with a smirk.

"Mom, it's not a date, we agreed going just as friends."

"That doesn't mean you won't leave just as friends" Prim pipes in.

I am officially speechless.

"Dinner is ready."Thank you mom, for saving my ass.

I dig in not leaving a bit behind, I could never waste such a dish. We enjoy small talk while eating and then all contribute with cleaning the dishes. Prim tried to pull a fast one and sneak out of helping, that was not going to happen. I finish helping and bid my goodnight and head to bed. I change into some sweats and a t-shirt for my pajamas and since it's only 7:30, I decide to read for a bit. My current book being _Sense and Sensibility. _I play music in the back ground on low just so my room isn't so quiet. The words to my favorite song right now flow as I read.

_He and I had something beautiful  
But so dysfunctional, it couldn't last  
I loved him so but I let him go  
'Cause I knew he'd never love me back_

Such pain as thisShouldn't have to be experienced  
I'm still reeling from the loss,  
Still a little bit delirious

Near to you, I am healing  
But it's taking so long  
'Cause though he's gone  
And you are wonderful  
It's hard to move on  
Yet, I'm better near to you

You and I have something different  
And I'm enjoying it cautiously  
I'm battle scarred, I am working oh so hard  
To get back to who I used to be

He's disappearing Fading suddenly  
I'm so close to being yours  
Won't you stay with me  
Please

Near to you, I am healing  
But it's taking so long  
'Cause though he's gone  
And you are wonderful  
It's hard to move on  
Yet, I'm better near to you.

I only know that I am Better where you are  
I only know that I am  
Better where you are  
I only know that I belong  
Where you are

Near to you, I am healing  
But it's taking so long  
Though he's gone  
And you are wonderful  
It's hard to move on  
Near to you, I am healing  
But it's taking so long  
'Cause though he's gone  
And you are wonderful  
|It's hard to move on  
Yet, I'm better near to you

Yet, I'm better near to you.

My eyelids soon become heavy, with the book still in my I drift into sleep. Little did I know I would dream of a beautiful, blonde haired, blue eyed boy.


End file.
